For NRA, Colorado Shooting
Is Just the Latest Setback

WASHINGTON -- Even before the massacre at Columbine High School, the National Rifle Association's reputation as one of the country's most feared special-interest groups had begun to slip.

Last month, the NRA suffered an embarrassing defeat in a Missouri referendum to let people carry concealed handguns, despite pouring nearly $4 million into an aggressive campaign for it. In the past two years, the NRA's success in influencing...